Xuan ya zhi shang

The plot twists and turns in this movie of the Communists vs the puppet regime in Manchukuo. Set in December 1934, the story revolves around a true event.

The sets are lovingly and authentically created to reproduce the romance of the period. Attention to detail is evident even to ensuring the cinema calendar is correct. I had to watch and rewatch the movie so many times to link the clues and details.

Zhang's masterly cinematography would have certainly won him the Best Director Oscar had Jane Campion's Power of the Dog not been just as lush and powerful.

Excellent, really Excellent movie. This will be a hard act to follow.

The topic is a typical Chinese communists theme, i.e., how nationalists persecuted them and communists sacrificed themselves to win the ruling of the country. The movie was directed by the famous director Zhang yimo, who did it for Chinese communist authority, which is understandable. The directing is ok, and the movie theme is quite tense from the beginning to the end. However, the actors/actresses are mediocre. The ending is also typical Chinese movie technique, i.e. Use crying and background music to stir up emotion of audience.

Before this, I always thought "The Message" was the best one of this type. But Cliff Walkers impressed me with its story-telling.

Back in 1940s, four of the specially-trained spies were sent to commit a mission--To protect an informant and send him out so he can tell the truth about the government to the world. However, there are moles among the four. So it's harsh for the real agents to do the task.

Firstly, the acting is quite satisfying. Zhangyi played a senior spy in the movie, and his performance of being tortured was quite impressive.

No pun intended - and when you watch the movie to the end, you will get a feeling that something is missing ... or not told to the end. That is because there will be a sequel to this. I had no idea when I started watching this, that that was the case ... but it is what it is. I would have waited and watched this and the sequel together.

It looks like Zhang Yimou is also doing the sequel. And if that name means something to you (I reckon you came to this site because of him rather than the film title), than you know what to expect from a movie he directs. There is a reason a lot of his work is getting nominated for a lot of awards ... same is true for this one right here.

Tension is high and the visuals match the the story that is being told. There is enough thrill to keep you on the edge of your seat. Even if you do not have any clue what happened in real life (history and all that). We cannot know it all, can we? Maybe this will keep you interested in all things that surround this and maybe more about chinese history.

When too much information is weaved/stuffed into such a visual spectacle in just two hours, then some details must be missed out during the (first-time) viewing process. I really enjoyed the strain and the thrill that the movie offered in Act 2 , but it took me some time to realize who's who and I had to carefully follow up on everybody's lines and subtext in Act 1 (even if I speak Mandarin). It also feels a bit abrupt when we see things are all settled in the end. Clarity is inevitably compromised when the narrative sometimes requires the audience to connect dots by themselves , in a blink of an eye.